“Don’t you ever want it to be somebody else’s problem?” I want to cry suddenly, my hormones racing round my body, twisting my thoughts against me and making me emotional.
“Why would you say that?” He asks and I wish more than anything that I could come clean.
“I just wish I could freeze this moment.”
“Well I can’t do that, but I can promise many more amazing ones just like it for years to come.” He kisses my cheek.
“That sounds wonderful.” I don’t let him see, but a small tear leaks from my eye, rolls down my cheek quickly and then drops into invisibility.
“It’s a nice temperature out here; would you like to go for a wander?” Orion asks and I nod. I can’t allow myself to get lost in him again, if I let that happen, I fear I’ll never return to the ocean as I must do for the good of everything the mer have worked so hard to protect. “Great, I have someone I want you to meet.” He says mysteriously.
We turn and move back into the muggy darkness of our room before getting dressed and slamming the door on the bed, dirtied with our sex and the heartbreakingly romantic view of the moonlit sea.
The Lunar Sanctum is still as we return to the lobby, walking out of the towering wooden double doors. I hadn’t expected them to be there if I’m honest, assuming all the guests entered through the secret cave that Orion and I had arrived in. Outside the weather is cool and the floor length lilac nightgown that I dressed in clings to me. I didn’t want to appear over dressed for whoever we were going to meet but I wondered if I should have put on at least a bra. Orion seems hurried as we walk through the palm trees that line the sand covered path that soon turns to rock. After a few moments, we arrive at a wooden building, I can’t imagine a mer living here and so my curiosity piques.
“These are the stables.” Orion explains, seeing the curiosity on my face. Had he waited a few moments more I would have realised this because as we approach I can smell the earthy moistness of hay and horse muck.
“You have a horse?” I ask, looking surprised.
“Not just any horse.” He looks childish with delight; his eyes alight with glee and excitement. He leads me down the line of stables, all of which are empty, until we reach the one at the very end. Within the stable is an enormous black stallion, with flanks that shine with the oily promise of masculine power.
“This is Philippe.” He explains and I immediately warm to the stallions brown eyes.
“The horse from when you joined the army?”
“The very same.” he responds proudly and unbolts the gate.
“How is that possible?” I query, stepping back and feeling confused as the giant horse, which stands a few inches taller than even Orion, canters out into the open space in front of the stables.
“Long story, in short, I was thrown off him in battle when he was run through with a sword and killed. He and I are connected. He’s the only one of his kind. We call him Equinox.” He explains, moving forward confidently and patting the horse’s neck, whispering sweetly in his ear. I wonder if he looks like that when he whispers to me, his mouth curving slightly and hiding the eye watering white smile from within.
“Wow.” I exclaim, slightly disarmed. He disappears for a moment and returns moments later carrying a saddle for two and bridle.
“Care to take a midnight horse ride on the beach with me?” He says, grinning as he slings the black saddle over the back of the horse.
“You want me … to get on that thing? You’re joking right?” I gulp, looking at him as if he is mad.
“You don’t like horses?” He asks.
“No sure, I went through the ‘I want a pony’ phase just like every other self-respecting eight year old, but he’s huge, Orion!”
“I’ll let you go in front, but I’ll steer. I won’t let you fall, I promise.” His assurance is less than competent, but he moves around the side of Philippe to where I stand and helps me put my naked foot in the stirrup. He pushes me upward, cupping my behind.
“Easy sailor.” I comment and he cocks his head, exasperated at my cheeky grin.
Atop his back I thought Philippe wouldn’t seem so huge, but I was wrong and the floor seems a million miles away. Orion gets up onto the horse after bridling his beautiful black face and slipping the straps over his twitching ears. Philippe moves impatiently from one foot to the other, shifting his weight; I hope I’m not too heavy. Orion pushes his chest to my back and reaches round to grab the reigns, clicking his bare feet against Philippe’s belly. The horse lurches into forward movement and I move back a little. I start to yell but Orion’s back stops me solid.
“I got you.” He soothes. Clicking his teeth and tongue as signal, the horse responds and breaks into a canter as we leave the stables behind, taking to a rock path that leads down the cliff on which the Lunar Sanctum is perched. The clipping and clopping are rhythmic and I feel the gyration of the animal beneath me in every step. I relax a little, seeing the moon where the trees break apart on the edge of the path that ends in a shear drop to the beach below. Orion clicks again and the horse gets a little quicker, approaching a gallop. I inhale deeply, stomaching my nerves.
“You okay?” Orion asks.
“Yes, could we perhaps slow down a bit?” He clicks his tongue again in response and the horse whinnies, slowing to a trot. I exhale, relieved.
We reach the beach below the cliff in what feels like no time at all and the sky opens up above us as the trees are left in the sand spray that blows up from under Philippe’s hooves. As Orion continues to hold the reigns around my waist from behind, I can feel the horses breathing and hear the sloshing of the waves getting closer. I see the waves over the head of the stallion soon after their call reaches my ears. It astounds me, as the silk, loose fitting nightgown blows in the sea breeze, that I actually inhabit such a massive amount of water. I’ve seen its secrets and if I’m honest, it wasn’t only Orion that I fell in love with when I became a mermaid, it was the sea.
“Thank you for this, Orion, it’s amazing.” I say, leaning back and nuzzling his cheek with mine. He is about to say something when a loud, hallowing sound interrupts us. It is like an air raid siren that we learned about from world war two in school, except this is much deeper, hollow and more harrowing.
“The psirens are attacking!” He whispers, breathless. My mouth forms a small O, my eyes widen.
“No!” I think of the scythe, we had stored it beneath the bed in our apartment. I need to get to it.
“We have to go back to the Occulta Mirum now, and fast.” Orion says and I wonder how quickly we can swim the journey back.
“How fast can we swim, I mean accounting for riptides if we catch them all?” I ask with urgency, realizing my heart is hammering, thudding in my ribcage.
“No swimming. I have a better idea.” He pulls back on the reigns in his hands quickly and I expect us to make our way back up to the cliff path. Instead, the horse tips backward and if it weren’t for Orion I would fall off. We continue to tilt, how on earth he isn’t falling backwards is beyond me. I marvel, shocked by the events occurring around me. There is a fast whinny, a horse cry that breaks the night and Philippe starts to full out gallop, sand flying up around us under the moonlight as we head towards the sea.
“Orion?” I call back over my shoulder, confused as hell as to what will happen next. I hear a slosh and spray cools my feet as Philippe breaks the shoreline.
“It’s okay, I know what I’m doing. Besides there’s only five of the banished, and we have a whole city. It’s going to be okay, Callie!” He’s almost yelling over the sloshing of the water. He clicks and all of a sudden the horse leaps. My heart jumps with it, finding itself in my throat as I can hardly breathe. I see the moon disappear as the shallows fall from beneath us and we find ourselves on horseback, galloping at some speed beneath the waves. I see the horse has changed. Its eyes covered in royal blue scales just like blinkers, leathery scaled wings expanding in front of my knees, they too are coated in royal b
lue scales, just like its rider. My tail has returned and I worry for a moment that I will fall, but Orion slides an arm around my waist. He yanks my nightdress over my head; I no longer have need for it and so let it be lost to the tide. Leaning back into the saddle he lets go of the reigns.
“The Occulta Mirum, Philippe.” He commands and the mad horse-mermaid combination whinnies, his wings moving forward to back, propelling us through the dark waters of the night.
“I should’ve mentioned Philippe changes just as much as I do.”
“Yeah …” I whisper, enjoying the fullness of the underwater air once again despite my racing pulse. I can’t help but laugh, I’m riding a horse underwater … or should I say, I’m riding an equinox underwater. The whole situation seems so incredible I want to just slow for a moment to take it all in, but we don’t have time. Our people need us.
We reach the outskirts of the city in ample time thanks to Philippe, the gills that had slit open on his neck opening and closing with the quickness of his breath. As we dismount, I pat him on his flank in thanks before turning and letting my mouth fall open in horror. I can see them coming a mile away, a black swarm of what could have been anything, but I know it is the psirens. There aren’t five of them though. There’s an army.
The Occulta Mirum looks as though it is being over taken by a dark cloud as the psiren army approaches and Philippe gallops away on the order of his rider. We are not alone, other mer have returned from the land to the city too. I can see the terror on their faces.
“The scythe … we have to protect it.” I murmur under my breath half-heartedly as I watch the commotion.
“It’s okay; they can’t get into the city. We have a song toll, remember?” Orion says in a hopeful tone.
“Yes and they have someone who can pay it.”
“Starlet.” he remembers, her name a curse on his lips. We swim forward toward the edifice at the entryway to the city and I cannot help but look up, the swarm are almost upon us and my heart is hammering, intimidated by their mass. Hundreds of writhing swimming monstrosities, half-man and half-horror. Orion quickly sings a few bars, other mer coming in behind us before the seal shuts itself. Then another behind them paying once more as we race into the city centre. Orion looks at me desperately.
“I’ll get the scythe, you stay here. Watch what’s happening, be my eyes. Keep hidden though, if Titus gets the chance, he won’t hesitate to kill you, ritual or no ritual.” He says and I want to argue but he glares at me forcefully, his eyes half-angry half-terrified.
“You’ll find me?” I concede.
“Always.” his hand slips from mine and I wish I could grasp it back again, but I don’t, instead I let him swim away towards our apartment. The army that accompany The Banished is substantial to say the least, and as moments pass, they only seem to gain more in number, the black cloud of bodies growing as they approach. The city is in mayhem, mermaids hurrying to their homes, slamming their doors shut, and boarding up the glassless windows while mermen hurry to their battle stations, looking every few seconds at the swarm above.
I see Sophia heading into her home but she doesn’t see me as I move upwards to just beneath the edge of the roof. The night light makes the whole scene increasingly eerie. Silence engulfs me as I watch the mass come from the dim moonlight covered ocean beyond the city, the dome seeming to offer little protection as I know they have the key to enter.
After a few minutes, I decide to move, I duck behind a surface scraper roof, feeling the need to gain height in order to get good visibility on the approaching threat. I see a glimmer of magenta at the front of the mass of bodies as they reach the edge of the dome. There is commotion and then it’s done and they enter the city. I wonder for a moment how Starlet could be so selfish, and then I remember it’s her. Orion theorizes we are similar, but how can we be if this is the price she is willing to pay for self-preservation?
The army passes in a wave into the city. They are mellow though, waiting for the command that will allow them to strike. I wonder how their number has gotten so big; I don’t think anyone expected their army to be this great. If only we had known. I doubt even if the city holds enough people to beat a force this size. Orion clearly hadn’t known. Was there another way of making others like them than turning mer to the dark? If so, when had they started building such an army? It seems that stopping the Necrimad might not even be enough. I scan the crowd. The city seems empty of mer from the outside, people huddled indoors or hiding, waiting to surprise the enemy as I lower myself behind the roofing of the cylindrical tower, ducking my head so as to stay invisible.
Titus all of a sudden becomes more visible, he is leading them. If one were to see them and not know who he was, you would immediately know he was boss as he gesticulates wildly, slashing through the water like a knife. The army behind him filter in as he, Starlet, and others whom Orion had identified for me during training as Azure, Solustus, Caedes, and Regus make their way to the central plaza.
The army is beginning to spread out and I realize that if I do not move I will be spotted and captured as they begin to encircle the outskirts of the sand dome in which the Occulta Mirum lies.
I wonder for a moment what to do, my aqua tail propelling me forward on instinct as I realize I need to find the two men who have the most experience and power in this place. I have to find Saturnus and Atlas, and I just have to hope to the heavens above that Orion gets hold of the scythe and remains safe.
It is not difficult to swim around the back of the tower that holds the study of Saturnus. Despite being in close proximity to Titus and the others, they’re too busy discussing things in hushed voices among themselves while hovering above the fountain to notice me. I slip inside the archway and up to the door of the study. I could have chosen to enter the Alcazar Oceania, and it was probably more likely I would find Atlas there, but it was a long shot trying to get past the sturdy doors and towering turrets unnoticed, so I went with plan B. I knock three times and enter, not waiting for a reply and find who I hope to. I exhale in relief thanking the Goddess for my good fortune.
“Saturnus, Atlas, Orion has gone to get the scythe, to keep it safe; we have to protect the city!” I babble, so worked up.
“Callie, calm down.” Saturnus says, looking tired through emerald green eyes.
“NO! Have you seen the size of the army out there? We’re going to get massacred!” I argue.
“We sounded the alarm, everyone is safe. We are trying to work out how their numbers have grown.” Atlas explains to me and I want to hit him.
“No everyone is not safe! If you two had been outside you would have known that Starlet has granted them access to the entire city!” I bark out, my eyes narrowing and brow furring in frustration. They both perk up at that sentiment looking at me shocked.
“Look out the window if you don’t believe me.” I order. Silly old men, I think, grumbling as they peel back the scarlet drape from the window and peek outside. They turn to me.
“We have to get out there. Try to negotiate somehow. We can’t allow a fight to break out here; they somehow outnumber us three to one.” Saturnus looks to Atlas and they both look at me.
“We need to tell her.” Atlas says to Saturnus and he agrees with a nod.
“Callie, before you go out there, there’s something you need to know.” Saturnus confesses.
“Regarding?” I snap, frustrated that they’re still keeping secrets.
“It’s about Azure.” Atlas says with a smile.
We emerge after the conversation that informed me of what is to come. My stomach is in knots. We swim from the surface scraper entrance together, and the sight that greets me makes it all the worse. Orion is on his side in front of the statue of Atargatis, he has been pinned to the floor using a large, metallic looking fisherman’s net that makes it impossible for him to move. The sight is heart-breaking and I want to scream at them to let him go. My heart is pounding in my chest once more, desperate to aid him, help him escape so
mehow. He mustn’t have realised they had infiltrated the city so quickly. He must have run out of time just like I was about to.
Solustus has him at sword point and I want to cry out, but Saturnus gives me a fair warning glance that, quite frankly, makes me want to punch him. I really need to get my violent tendencies under control, as hitting people is becoming an all too common desire.
“Titus, what have you done to my son?” Atlas demands, his eagle like eyes give nothing away, not even fear. I wonder if he really is as fearless as he seems.
“What? You mean other than capturing him underneath a heavy duty, state of the art steel net? Why, nothing.” His teeth, razor sharp, part in a menacing zigzag between his lips. His eyes are a black abyss and his white skin is covered in slashes that form his chillingly symbolic tattoos.
“Let him go.” Saturnus barks, it is not a request.
“And why would I do that?” Titus replies, mocking the right hand while looking at me out of the corner of his eye.
“You have no use for him Titus. Be reasonable.”
“Life is not reasonable, Atlas. You and I both know that, though perhaps I know that a little better than you do.” Silence hangs between them like a noxious gas, before Titus makes a long gash through the water with his dragon-esque tail, closing the distance between them. “As a matter of fact though, I do need your son. You see he is the vessel and I need him to complete the ritual that, as you may or may not already know, will change everything.”
“How do you figure he is the vessel?” I ask, blurting out the question before I can stop myself.
“After Starlet here wouldn’t tell me who it was, even after an extreme amount of painful prodding. I asked myself the question you see … who would Starlet, of all people, protect? Seeing as the list consisted of exactly two people and one of them already answers to me, Orion was the obvious conclusion.”
The Kiss That Killed Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 1) Page 44